Nike Goes Green for the World Cup

Nike have kitted out Brazil’s World Cup football team in shirts made from recycled plastic bottles.

Nike is the biggest name in sports goods in the world. And as such, it is making its presence felt at the biggest sporting event of the year – the World Cup. The football teams Nike is sponsoring, including Brazil, Portugal and the Netherlands will be wearing Nike shirts that are manufactured from recycled plastic bottles. The 100% recycled polyester shirts are waving the brand’s green credentials loud and clear.

Eight Recycled Bottles

Nike is sponsoring nine nations in the tournament, who posed for a press shoot in the new recycled Nike shirts at an event at Battersea power station. The World Cup will take place in South Africa this summer, and no doubt the many fans that fly to the event from all over the world will have a big impact on their carbon footprint. But the Nike recycled shirts are seen as a bid to try and make the event that little bit greener. The other teams wearing the Nike shirts include Australia, New Zealand, America, South Korea, Slovenia and Serbia.
It isn’t just the footballers that can wear the Nike shirts; fans can buy away kits at a cost of £50 – the recycled Nike shirts will cost the same as non-recycled shirts. The recycled Nike shirts are made from eight recycled bottles. The plastic is sourced from Japanese landfills, melted down and turned into fabric, using 30 less energy then the traditional process of manufacturing new polyester.

Nike Kits Cool and Green

Recycling in clothes and bags is nothing new – the green movement has seen recycled plastic bags, skirts, and trousers sold in High Street shops such as M&S and BHS. But Nike’s move into football kits has been praised by the green fashion industry. Sustainability in fashion is a big buzz word with dedicated bodies such as the Ethical Fashion Forum working hard to take out the waste from the world of fashion and consumerism. As well as looking good, the Nike kits are designed to keep the players cool in the summer heat of South Africa. The Nike move is seen as a step in the right direction and the company has take big steps in recent years to improve its ethical image.

Talking to the Guardian newspaper, Nina Stevenson from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion, said: “Using recycled PET in performance wear is a recognised innovation with real environmental benefits. By using existing resources, Nike are supporting closed loop design that is not compromising ecological balance.”

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